


things you said that i wasn't meant to hear

by ednae



Series: things you said [2]
Category: Tales of Berseria
Genre: F/F, Mutual Pining, Nicknames, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 00:17:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13986369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ednae/pseuds/ednae
Summary: Velvet has a habit of giving nicknames to her loved ones."Hey Ele, can you grab that bag for me?"





	things you said that i wasn't meant to hear

“Hey Ele, can you grab that bag for me?” Velvet says with a nod of her head toward the paper bag. The grocer stares at Eleanor expectantly as Velvet turns away, her own arms full of bags, but Eleanor draws a blank.

Did she just call her…Ele?

“Wh-what was that?” she bursts out, her face heating up immediately as the nickname finally settles in.

Velvet looks at her from over her shoulder, an eyebrow raised. “What are you talking about?” Not taking Eleanor’s outburst seriously, as per their usual, she starts off toward the docks where the Van Eltia waits for them. Eleanor hastily scoops up the remaining bag and runs off after her, not ready to let that one go.

“You just called me Ele!” she says as she finally catches up with Velvet. She’s positive the shade of her face matches her hair, but she presses on.

“What?” Velvet says, faltering only slightly. “No I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did!” Eleanor counters, ignoring the _thump thump thumping_ in her chest. “I heard it loud and clear!”

It’s only because she’s paying attention that Eleanor catches the crease in Velvet’s brow, the tight line of her lips, the hesitation in her words. “Y-you must be hearing things,” she finally says with a shrug that shifts the bags in her arms. Paper scrapes against fabric and fills the silence that Velvet seems to usher in.

But Eleanor is having none of it. When her friends at the Abbey told her she had a stick up her ass, it barely gleaned the surface of her proud no-bullshit lifestyle. She isn’t about to let go of her ideals so easily.

Besides, she reasons at the far recesses of her mind, this could be her opportunity to finally get closer to Velvet, and as much as reason tells her to stay away from someone like the Lord of Calamity, her heart has other desires.

“I know what you said,” Eleanor says loudly, putting her metaphorical foot down. Velvet turns away in what Eleanor initially believes is disgust, but then she catches a small flush to her cheeks. Her breath hitches.

It’s whenever she does stuff like that, when she lets down her guard and lets herself be _human_ _—_ no matter how much Velvet believes it’s impossible for her—that Eleanor finds herself falling further.

The first time, she recalls, it was in Aball, when she saw Velvet smile, _really_ smile, for the first time. When she cooked them a meal even though she couldn’t taste, using Laphicet as a taste-tester. When she laughed and truly believed everything would be all right, right before it all came crashing down around her.

Her eyes shone brightly with her face pulled tightly in a grin, and Eleanor had, against all logic, fallen for it.

Since then, it was just little glimpses here and there, little hints of the humanity that still nestled itself deep within Velvet’s heart, and Eleanor would take what she could get. Besides, it was all a frivolous crush, nothing more, and she was mostly waiting for it to pass.

Now, as her chest tightens and her breathing stops at the mere _sight_ of a blush on Velvet’s cheeks, she begins to reconsider what she wants out of this.

“It was just a mistake,” Velvet grits out between clenched teeth, but the flush deepens with her growing embarrassment. “Think nothing of it.”

“Well,” Eleanor says, stepping just a few inches closer to her, “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”

The statement gives Velvet pause, and together they stand in the middle of the busy merchants’ alley of Port Zekson. Velvet doesn’t exactly seem happy about Eleanor’s admission, but she also doesn’t seem upset. She just...is.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Velvet hisses, but her voice is lower now, stuttering as she struggles to save face. Eleanor feels herself losing ground she so desperately wants to cover.

“Stop shutting me out,” she demands, gripping Velvet’s shoulder with her free hand. It forces her to look over and they lock eyes for the first time. Velvet’s are narrowed, but there’s no anger in them, and Eleanor feels like she’s finally winning the battle. When they began fighting, though, she isn’t sure.

“I’m not,” she lies in some lame attempt at recovering. “You want me to call you Ele? Fine. But I prefer the nickname ‘Annoying Pain in my Ass.’”

The sarcasm drips from her words, and the familiarity is something Eleanor can work with. “Sorry, only friends can call me that.”

Velvet quirks an eyebrow up. “Then I guess we’ll just have to be friends.”

The proposal takes Eleanor by surprise, and she feels her face heat up once again. By the twitching at the corners of Velvet’s mouth, she assumes her flush is noticeable. “W-well, then, I guess we will.”

Velvet just rolls her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Come on, Ele. Phi wanted quiche tonight.”

Eleanor watches her back as she walks away. A flutter in her chest steals her breath, and she thinks she could get used to wherever their relationship was headed.

And then she runs off after Velvet, testing her new nickname on her tongue, tasting the two short syllables with a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eye.

**Author's Note:**

> local lesbians don't know how to talk to their crushes


End file.
